Plug for cleaning tubes



' Sept. 4,1923. 1',6's3,429

E. WALKER I Pane FOR CLEANIfiQEUBES Filed Nov. 17,:1926

EDWHED WHLKEe I A TTORNE KS Patented Sept. 4, 1928.

EDWARD WALKER, 0F eimnrwoon, NE JERSEY.

PLUG FOR CLEANING TUBES.

Application filed November 17, 1926. Serial No. 148,945.

' This invention relates to improvements in cleaning devices, and hasparticular reference to a plug for cleaning condenser tubes and thelike. p

An object of the invention is to provide an improved plug of simple,practical and 1nexpensive construction which will effectively removefrom a condenser tube all accumulations of slime, mud andothersubstances which are a detriment totheetficiency of the tube. w

Another obj ectresides in fixedly mounting upon the body of the plug ascraping ele-' ment in the form of asleeve, the eifective scraping edgeofwhich will be practically continuous and will at all times yieldablyengage the interior surface of the tube with suflicient pressure tothoroughly remove all sediment from said surface.

The above and other objects will appear more clearly from thekfollowingdetail de-v scription, when taken i i-connection with the accompanyingdrawing, which illustrates preferred embodiments of the inventive idea.

In the drawing.

Figure 1 is aside elevation of one form of the plug showing itsapplication to a tube and the arrowtindicating the direction of travelof the plug through the tube;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the plug shown in'Figure 1; i

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 33 of Figure 2; v

Figure t is .a side elevation ofv another form of the invention showinga slightly different modification of the scraper;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of another form with the position of thescraper element reversed with respect to theillustration in Figure 1-;and

Figure 6 is a side elevation, partly broken away and shown in section,of still another form of the invention.

The plug of the present invention is designed to be inserted within thebore of a condenser tube or the like and is forced through the tube,preferably by means of Figures 1 to 3, the plug consists of an elon-Igated body 7, preferably made of solid rubber of strong texture, saidbody being cular in cross section and of less diameter than the-tubethrough which it is to be pro jected. ,At only one end of the body thesamehas formed integrally thereWitha hea-d or flange 8, also of rubber,the diameter of which is slightly larger than the tube in order thatsaidhead will fit ti htly within the tube to impart to it an expandingpressure which will cause the head to tightly fit the tube for thetwofold purpose of acting as a piston against which pressure is exertedwhen forcing the plug through the tube and as a cleaning element whichwill-assist in removing sediment from thetube.

In order to assist thefiange 8 in thor- 'oughly removing allaccumulations within longitudinally extending slits llgdividingsaid. endinto a number of scraping blades 12, j the free extremities of whichareflared outwardly to .form in eifect a circumferential scrapingedge13, the diameter of which is slightly greater than'the interiorbore. of a tube to be cleaned. The sleeve 9 isprefer ably 'inade ofsteelor other metal having the required resiliency so thatwhen the plug isinsertedinto'the tube the free extremities of the blades will beforced-inwardly by contact of the scraping edge 13 with the in-' teriorof the tube. Thus by reason of the inherent resiliency of the metal itwill be obvious that considerable pressure will be exerted against theinterior surface of the tube by the. free extremities ofthebladesforming the scraping edge-18 and this pressure will be augmentedby the fact that when the blades are compressed at the time of theinsertion of the plug into the tube the portions of said blades adjacenttheir inner ends will compress the resilient body? thus cans ing saidbody to also have a tendency to force the blades outwardly. As theplug-is projected through the tube the scraping edge 13 will effectivelyremove anylaccumulation which may have adhered to the tube after thepassage of the flange 8 and it will be obvious that the combined actionof said flange and scraping edge will, therefore, be effective inremoving all sediment from said tube.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 4, the body 7 is ofprecisely the same construction as that shown in Figure 1. However, thescraper 14 differs from the element 9 in that the end of the sleeveadjacent the flange 8 of the body is also provided with a plurality oflongitudinal slits 15 forming a plurality of blades 16, the outerextremities of which are bent backward upon themselves and outwardlyflared to form a second scraping edge 17 which is of the same diameteras the edge 13. The slits 15 are disposed in staggered'relation to theslits 11 so that the free edge of any one of the blades 16 whichconstitutes a portion of the scraping edge 17? will be in overlapping.ielation to the small space between two adjacent blades 12.- Bythusarranging the blades16 with respect to the blades 12 it will be obviousthat all possibility of the device failing to remove any of the sedimentin the tube will be avoided for any accumulation which may possibly passbetween any two blades 16 will be scraped by a portion of the scrapinged .e 13.

In Figure!) t 1e construction of the body 7 and thescraper 9 is exactlythe same as that shown in Figure 1, but in mounting the scraper upon thebody the position thereof is reversed so that the scraping edge 13 willbelocated adjacent the flange 8. When so constructed the end of the bodywhich has no flange thereon is first inserted. into the tube .so thatthe'scraping edge 13 will contact the tube before the flange .8 entersthe same and the plug will then be projected through the tube in thedirection of the arrow shown in Figure 5.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 6, the body 18 is ofcylindrical constance, and the ends of said body are closed by disks orheads 19, the body in the present instance being made without a flangeat either end. The scraper 20 is also in the form of a sleeve securedtothe body by. a

rivet 21 andconstructed the same as the scraper 14 with blades 22 and 23at opposite ends, the free extremities of which are flared to formscraping edges 2 and 25, respectively, and the blades at one end beingarranged in staggered. relation with respect to r end thereof, and ascraper. including a sleeve fitted over said body and having one endsplit longitudinally to form a plurality of blades, the free extremitiesof which are flared outwardly and which combine to form acircumferential scraping edges "2. A plug for cleaning condenser tubesand the like, including a body having a flange at one end, and ascraperincluding a sleeve fitted over the otheruend of thebody Y and fixedthereto intermediate its ends, said sleeve being split longitudinally atboth ends thereof to form a plurality of blades with the blades at oneend arranged in staggered relation to those at -the otherend, the freeextremities of the blades atboth ends being flared to formcircumferential scraping edges.

A plug for cleaning condenser tubes and the like, including acylindrical body, and

a scraper mountedupon said body and including a sleeve split at each endthereofto form a pluralityof scraping blades With the blades at one endarranged in staggered relation to those at the other end, and the'freeextremities of said blades being flared outwardly to formcircumferential scraping edges at both ends of said sleeve.

In testimony whereof I :have aflixed my signature.

' EDWARD WALKE y

